Narrative Messages Part 1

With this approach in mind, the first story whose theme I'll discuss is "At Risk." Diane, the protagonist of this story, is a shemale. Let me explain what I mean by this term. Although many consider this noun a synonym for "transsexual," I limit its meaning, in my use of it, to what some refer to as a male-to-female "pre-operative transsexual," that is, to a man who has had all the transformational procedures performed except actual sex-reassignment surgery. This individual has completed psychological counseling, has had hormone therapy, has had breast augmentation surgery, and has had all the other complementary training and behavior modification, such as electrolysis, the shaving of the larynx, instructions on how to apply makeup, how to talk like a woman, how to walk like a woman, how to dress like a woman. All that is left is his male genitals, and these, for whatever reason, he has decided to retain. I understand that others use the term "shemale" without any such restrictions. Some may be offended by my own definition. Be that as it may, this is how, for my purposes as a writer, I define the term.

At the outset of "At Risk," Diane has low self-esteem. In fact, she hates herself. She intentionally withholds the information from her dates that she is a shemale, despite her knowledge that many men, feeling duped, react in a hostile manner, beating her, at times savagely. She doesn't accept the truth about herself. She doesn't admit that she is self-destructive or that her self-destructiveness stems from the hatred and contempt that she feels for herself. She is a masochist, but she has no idea as to why she enjoys being subjected to pain and humiliation. In fact, she thinks she is "proud to be a shemale." It is only after she meets Eric, a loving man who treats her with kindness and respect, that she realizes that someone else may value her just the way she is, cock and balls and all. At first, she hopes he will react as all the other men she's deceived about her true condition have reacted, by physically brutalizing her.